Kitchen Meets Culinary Clutz

• 3- to 3 ½ -pound cut-up broiler-fryer chicken
• ¼ cup ( ½ stick ) margarine or butter
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

1. If the chicken is frozen, place in the refrigerator the night before you plan to use it or for at least  12 hours.  Cut and discard fat from chicken with kitchen scissors or knife.  Rinse chicken under cold water, and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Heat the oven to 425°F.  Place the margarine in a rectangular pan, and melt in the oven, which will take about 3 minutes.
3. Mix the flour, paprika, salt and pepper in a large plastic bag.  Place the chicken, a few pieces at a time, in the bag, seal the bag and shake to coat with flour mixture.  Place the chicken, skin sides down, in a single layer in margarine in pan.  
4. Bake uncovered 30 minutes.  Remove chicken from oven, and turn pieces over with tongs.  Continue baking uncovered about 30 minutes longer or until juice of chicken is no longer pink when you cut into the center of the thickest pieces (170°F for breasts; 180°F for thighs and legs).  If chicken sticks to the pan, loosen it gently with a turner or fork.

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Make pie crusts as directed above for Two-Crust Pie using 9-inch glass pie pan.
2. In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Add onion; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender.
3. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until well blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk, cooking and stirring until bubbly and thickened.
4.  Stir in chicken, mixed vegetables and potatoes (let simmer for about 5 extra minutes if veggies are thrown in frozen). Remove from heat.
5. Spoon chicken mixture into crust-lined pan. Top with second crust; seal edge and flute. Cut slits in several places in top crust.
6. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. During last 15 to 20 minutes of baking, cover crust edge with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning.
7.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

1.       In a hot family skillet, melt the butter.

2.      While butter is melting, give your chicken a few light bashes with the tenderizer and then throw them into the skillet in a single layer.

3.       Brown breasts on each side.

4.      Sprinkle each breast generously with Rosemary Herb Seasoning, on both sides.

5.      Add White Cooking Wine, cover and let your chicken absorb all that yummy goodness for about 15-20 minutes, making sure to turn chicken over once halfway through cooking.During last 5 minutes of cooking, remove lid to allow the heat to cook off the liquid.

6.       Serve warm with pasta and steamed veggies, Yum! 

**Substitution: Use Chicken broth if White Cooking Wine is not available!

Crispy Chicken Strips

It's chicken night on the South Shore and sometimes I like to shake things up a bit instead of sticking with the same 'ol roasted and barbecue recipes. I've never been a fan of frying meat. Doing so has always landed me in a rather unfriendly predicament, Me vs. Grease Fire.

Let me share with you one of those stories before getting to my recipe. . .

It all began one brisk fall afternoon in Central Oregon. I was about 15 years old. The butcher had come around to our ranch just days earlier to slaughter our two pigs. Their names were Cinnamon and um... well now, I've forgotten the name of the second pig. I'll just call him Red.


They were cute pigs when they were alive and looked just like the two pigs pictured above. So the butcher dun them in days earlier and since Mama spoiled them so much with Cob & Molasses they yielded the most tender hams, chops and bacon I've ever tasted in my life!

Mama and Daddy had been gone to town the day of my unfortunate encounter with the grease fire. My lit'l sissy and I were bored and had pulled out the picture boxes from Mama's room and sat down with pictures scattered across her bed as we flipped from one picture to the next, laughing and reminiscing about the good 'ol days when we lived in San Francisco.

Time was passing swiftly and it was nearing supper time. Sissy and I were feeling famished and our parents had not come home yet. While digging through the refrigerator we found a package of bacon wrapped tight in butcher paper. I immediately made up my mind that I was hungry and I wanted to fry us up some bacon.

So sissy ran to the dish room where Mama kept all the pots and pans hung on the wall. She grabbed me a small frying pan since we only wanted 2 strips of bacon each so as not to spoil our dinner. I turned on the skillet, threw 4 pieces of bacon in the pan and walked away to Mama's room to continue looking through the picture boxes. Heck, who pays attention to bacon anyways? I figured it just fries up on its own with no help, and besides we were busy.

About 15 minutes pass by and we begin to hear loud crackling sounds coming from the kitchen. As we entered the kitchen the grease in the pan decided to *POOF* into flames! I froze into a state of shock and  my sister pushed me into the dish room to grab something to put out the fire. As I stared at all the metal pot lids, trying to remember why I should grab one, Sissy shoved a large stock pot filled with water into my chest and yells, "here, put out the fire!" At this point I snap back into reality, forget all senses, and run back into the kitchen to splash the water onto the fire. . . "Whoops!" The small frying pan filled with flames grew into a kitchen ceiling engulfed in billowing flames after the grease splattered up the wall and onto the ceiling. What had I done? Why did I not just grab a pot lid to smother the flames? How could I be so careless?

All these thoughts flooded into my head as I stared up at the flames eating away at the paint on the ceiling. Thankfully my parents came home just in time to put out the fire and save the kitchen. I remember crying in my father's arms that day as he held me tight against his chest.

We were never disciplined for setting the house ablaze, but I assure you that my sis and I sure did learn our lesson.

With my track record of starting kitchen fires I've steered clear of messing with fried foods.  Nowadays if I'm going to fry anything, it's with my DeLonghi Deep Fryer, or if using the stove-top, I make sure I've got a pan lid nearby so I can smother any grease fires.
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With the help of some friends who've given me tips on frying chicken I've come up with this recipe for Crispy Chicken Strips. (One of these days I'll gain enough courage to fry me up some drumsticks and thighs. Until then, I'll stick with boneless chicken breast strips.

Enjoy!

Happy HumpDay!

 Good Morning,

I woke up with the case of the grumpies but it didn't stop me from posting tonight's main-dish for dinner. I've been using this recipe for just over 12 years and I love it!! If anyone has good recipes it's Betty Crocker. She does it best!!

Before I hit the "Publish Post" button I want to remind anyone who has an iPhone, iPod and/or iPad that you can find the Betty Crocker APP to download onto your device for free! It is packed full of all your favorite Betty Crocker Recipes!! It makes it so easy to use when you are on the go and trying to figure out what to make for dinner when you've got to make that little pitstop at the market before heading home from work/or school! I love This App!!

-Bec

	1/4 cup butter or margarine 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper  **Seasoned Salt (Season-All) 3-3 1/2 lb cut-up whole chicken

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Melt butter in 13x9-inch pan in oven.
2. In shallow dish, mix flour, paprika, salt and pepper. 
3. **Sprinkle each piece of chicken with Seasoned Salt.
4. Coat chicken with flour mixture. Place chicken, skin sides down, in pan.
5. Bake uncovered 30 minutes. Turn chicken; bake about 30 minutes longer or until juice is clear when thickest part is cut to bone (170°F for breasts; 180°F for thighs and legs).

Source: Betty Crocker's Cooking Basics, Copyright  ©1998 General Mills, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota 
Print Recipe Here 

Editor's Note: (01/22/2011) **SouthShore- Coach Oliver's Twist- I had asked my friend, Coach O., how she preps her fried chicken. She said that the trick to a flavorful chicken is to sprinkle each piece with Seasoned Salt (Season-All) before coating it in the flour mixture. I tried it and we were impressed with the burst of flavor! The printable version of the recipe does not list Seasoned Salt in it's ingredients since that version is an original Betty Crocker recipe. Thank you, Bec

Have a Great Day!! 

Our week has just been way too busy and it just began!! Thankfully this week has been busy with good things though. KT-Q received First Place for her District Science Fair Project in Division 4 of Biochemistry! "Hooray!!" She was also inducted into the National Junior Honor Society for 2010-2011, this evening!! HOORAH!!  Our kids make us so proud to be their parents!!

This evening we planned another "Quick Fix" meal. It's a Summer family favorite. I don't normally make Chicken Pasta in the wintertime. It was just a easy thing to whip up for this busy evening.

2 boneless Chicken Breasts
12 or 16 oz package Egg Noodles
4 Tbsp margarine or spread
Garlic Salt


1.  Chicken: Prepare your chicken breast how you like it, grilled, boiled, broiled, pan fried, etc. I suggest that if you are boiling your chicken breast to add a little bit of salt to the water.


2.  When chicken is fully cooked (160° F, Juices run clear, meat no longer pink in center), move to cutting board and dice into bite-sized chunks. Set aside.


3.  Noodles: Bring a  6 quart stock pot of water to a boil and cook noodles as directed on package. Drain.

4.  Return noodles to stockpot, add margarine and stir into noodles until melted.

5.  Stir in chicken and sprinkle with garlic salt (enough to desired taste).

6.  Voilà!! Quick fix dinner!!